Manipulative play panel

ABSTRACT

A game panel allows a child to interact and communicate face to face, rather than through electronic means, with other children to create and play a game. The play maker is a personal engagement recreational tool that provides subtle guidance, assisting the child in discovering a unique opportunity to create, practice, teach and play with peers. The play maker panel provides, for example, seven major components found in every game. For each of these components, the play maker panel can provide, for example, ten sub-components for each of the fields. The play maker panel may include a device for randomly generating a number, for example a number between one and ten. The wheel may be spun one time for each of the components (for example, seven components) to provide a description in each game component for play.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional patent application No. 61/442,206, filed Feb. 12, 2011, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for creating games and, more particularly, to a manipulative play panel that creates thousands of game possibilities through manipulating a series of tiles, or through electronic means.

Where has basic play and gamesmanship gone? Has technology and social issues overtaken the child's inherent right to simply play with their peers? Has imaginative play disappeared? Has the competitive nature of traditional sports and games limited the type of child who can participate and be accepted by peers? In today's environment, these questions often arise and the answers may not be the most desirable. While there are games that allow children to interact and communicate face to face, many such games are limited in their rules and require an understanding of how to play.

As can be seen, there is a need for an apparatus and method that creates game possibilities for play.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a play panel comprises a front panel; a random number generator disposed on a first portion front panel adapted to generate a random number; and a grid disposed on a second portion of the front panel, the grid including a number of rows and columns, the rows corresponding to components of a game and the columns corresponding to numbers which the random number generator is capable of generating, wherein each element in the grid is selectable between a first position, showing no information, and a second position, showing an identification marking corresponding to the game component of a particular column.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for creating a game for play comprises providing a game panel having a plurality of movable tiles disposed in a grid of a plurality of columns and rows, each tile having an identification marking thereupon, and each tile movable between a first position, where the identification marking is not visible, and a second position where the identification marking is visible; generating a random number; revealing the identification marking of a particular tile in a column based on the random number; repeating the generating and revealing steps for each column of the grid; and creating a game based on game characteristics revealed in each column.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a play maker panel, in use, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the play maker panel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a close up view illustrating rotational motion of a tile grid of the play maker panel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of the play maker panel of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a front view showing exemplary tile labels for the play maker panel of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart describing set-up of the play maker panel of

FIG. 2; and

FIG. 10 is a flow chart describing a method of using the play maker panel of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a game panel that allows a child to interact and communicate face to face, rather than through electronic means, with other children to create and play a game. The play maker is a personal engagement recreational tool that provides subtle guidance, assisting the child in discovering a unique opportunity to create, practice, teach and play with peers. The play maker panel provides, for example, seven major components found in every game. For each of these components, the play maker panel can provide, for example, ten sub-components for each of the fields. In this example, the play maker panel would be a 7 by 10 grid. The play maker panel may include a wheel for randomly generating a number, for example, a number between one and ten. The wheel may be spun one time for each of the components (for example, seven components) to provide a description in each game component for play.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 7, a play panel 10 may include a front panel 12 and a back panel 14 disposed adjacent to and generally parallel with each other to form a cavity 16 therebetween. The play panel 10 may be supported by support posts 26. In some embodiments, the play panel 10 may be designed to hang from a wall, be placed on the ground or floor, or may include some other form of support mechanism.

A spin wheel 18 may be disposed inside the cavity 16 such that the spin wheel 18 may rotate inside the cavity 16. A plurality of spin wheel grooves 20 may be disposed on the spin wheel and a stutter rod 22 may be adapted to engage each of the grooves 20. When the spin wheel 18 is spun, the spin wheel 18 may stop spinning with the stutter rod 22 disposed within one of the grooves 20. This position allows a viewing opening 24 in the front panel 12 to show a spin result, typically a number. In some embodiments, the spin wheel 18 may include ten grooves 20, corresponding to ten number selection identification markings 40 along the spin wheel 18. However, the spin wheel 18 may be designed with any number of grooves 20 and identification markings 40, depending on the number of tiles used, as described below.

In place of the spin wheel, an electronic random number generator may be provided. This device may provide one number at a time, or may provide, for example, seven numbers at once in, for example, a slot machine type display. The number of times the spin wheel is spun, or the number of random number generations that is needed will typically correspond to the number of columns of tiles, as described below.

The front panel 12 of the play panel 10 may include a plurality of tiles 36 arranged in a number of rows and columns. For example, there may be seven columns and ten rows. It should be noted that any other number of rows and columns may be used within the scope of the present invention. A game component identification chart 28 may be disposed above the columns. This chart 28 may describe various game components such as equipment, environment, structure, objective, action, roles and ritual, for example. A row identification chart 30 may be disposed adjacent to the rows. This chart 30 may include numbers, for example, the numbers zero through nine, to correspond to those spun on the spin wheel 18. As the spin wheel 18 is spun (or a random number generated for a given column), the user may turn a tile corresponding for that number in each column, thereby creating a scenario for a game to be played. FIG. 7 shows an exemplary tile grid identification chart 34, showing the various identifiers written on each tile 36 within a tile grid 32.

The tiles 36 may be disposed on spin rods 38 that permit the tiles to spin. This results in the descriptions/markings 52 on the tiles to be only visible when that tile 36 is spun around. The spin rods 38 may be horizontal, as shown in FIGS. 3 through 5, or may be vertical, for example.

The back panel 14 of the play panel 10 may include a directions placement area 44, a DDADA method (Describe; Demonstrate; Ask Questions; Do It; Adapt) text area 46 and a company data area 48. The front panel 12 may also include a logo/graphic placement area 42. Of course, variations in the placement of these areas, or the presence or absence of such areas, are within the scope of the present invention.

To use the play panel 10, a user 50 may spin the spin wheel 18 to obtain a first number. This tile 36 may be spun to reveal a marking 52 thereupon.

This process may be repeated for each row/game component. The user may then create a name for the game and play. The play for the particular game may be limited only to the user's imagination and the game components selected. With 7 columns and 10 rows, there may, in this example, be over 50,000 different game possibilities.

While the above describes tiles, typically 2×2 tiles, that are physically turned, the game may also be an electronic panel, where the tiles are pre-defined and a tile selection tool may be used to reveal the contents of a particular tile. In this embodiment, the tile descriptions may be the same or may be randomized for each game.

A web site may be provided for users of the game to submit information about the game they played, including those the user's found particularly enjoyable.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

1. A play panel comprising: a front panel; a random number generator disposed on a first portion front panel adapted to generate a random number; and a grid disposed on a second portion of the front panel, the grid including a number of rows and columns, the rows corresponding to components of a game and the columns corresponding to numbers which the random number generator is capable of generating, wherein each element in the grid is selectable between a first position, showing no information, and a second position, showing an identification marking corresponding to the game component of a particular column.
 2. The play panel of claim 1, wherein the grid includes a plurality of rotatable tiles.
 3. The play panel of claim 1, wherein the grid include seven columns corresponding to seven different game components.
 4. The play panel of claim 1, wherein the random number generator is a spin wheel.
 5. The play panel of claim 4, further comprising a viewing opening in the front panel to view a spin wheel result, the spin wheel result corresponding to a row number on the grid.
 6. The play panel of claim 1, wherein the components of the game include equipment, environment, structure, objective, action, roles and ritual.
 7. The play panel of claim 1, further comprising a back panel disposed to form a cavity between the front and back panels.
 8. A method for creating a game for play, the method comprising: providing a game panel having a plurality of movable tiles disposed in a grid of a plurality of columns and rows, each tile having an identification marking thereupon, and each tile movable between a first position, where the identification marking is not visible, and a second position where the identification marking is visible; generating a random number; revealing the identification marking of a particular tile in a column based on the random number; repeating the generating and revealing steps for each column of the grid; and creating a game based on game characteristics revealed in each column.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising spinning a spin wheel to generate the random number.
 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising rotating the tiles along an axis to reveal the identification marking. 